Disposable pillar set for cakes

ABSTRACT

A disposable pillar set comprising a plurality of disposable pillars and platforms which are assembled to form the supporting structure for the layers of a tier cake, each layer having its individual paper cake circle and lace board and a cake carrier to support the assembled tier cake. The disposable pillars are scissile to allow cutting to produce varying interspaces between cake layers, and the cake carrier provides a finger space to facilitate handling and transporting the completed tier cake with fastening means positively preventing the lowermost lace board and cake circle from inadvertent sliding.

United States Patent [191 McMains DISPOSABLE PILLAR SET FOR CAKES [76] Inventor: Standlee N. McMains, 234 Guana Ave., Chula Vista, Calif. 92010 [22] Filed: Nov. 13, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 305,962

3,070,236 12/1962 MacPherson ..108/101X 1 June 4, 1974 3,169,496 2/1965 Muggli 108/101 X 3,690,610 9/1972 Pierce 108/101 Primary Examiner-Francis K. Zugel Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Roy L. Knox [57] ABSTRACT A disposable pillar set comprising a plurality of disposable pillars and platforms which are assembled to form the supporting structure for the layers of a tier cake, each layer having its individual paper cake circle and lace board and a cake carrier to support the assembled tier cake. The disposable pillars are scissile to allow cutting to produce varying interspaces between cake layers, and the cake carrier provides a finger space to facilitate handling and transporting the completed tier cake with fastening means positively preventing the lowermost lace board and cake circle from inadvertent sliding.

7'Claims, 5 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A tier cake is a plurality of cake layers arranged vertically in a configuration of spaced parallelism such as the traditional wedding cake. To support the several cake layers at the different levels and to provide interspaces for decoration, a multileveled support structure is required, to which the present invention relates.

One support structure currently in use comprises a set of pillars of fixed length and platforms fitted with pre-formed mounting sockets for the pillars. Pillars and platforms are arranged in vertical sequence to provide the necessary stepped structure.

. Typically, all such sets are relatively expensive and intended to be returned by the buyer to the baker for washing andre-use, with resulting loss of part of or all of the sets due to carelessness, as well as discoloration and breakage of the set due to repetitive washing and handling. The fixed length of the pillars and pre-formed mounting sockets on such'prior art platforms requires the cake to conform to the particular spatial array suggested by the support structure.

There exists a need, however, for a tier cake support structure which, in addition to merely supporting layers at various levels, incorporates the advantages of disposability and a versatility of structure, that enables the bakerto invest his creations with the signature of his own artistry rather than being strapped into massproduced conformity by the dictates of a pre-formed tier cake support.

There also exists a need for a cake carrier which provides a secure grip to one who wishes to handle and transport the completed tier cake.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above mentioned needs are met by the apparatus as herein disclosed and claimed, namely, a disposable pillar set comprising a plurality of disposable pillars, platforms, and a carrying board. The pillars, being nonreturnable and scissile, can be cut to produce a tier cake with different spaces between layers, including no space at all, and whatever number of pillars per layer as meets the decorators fancy. The named risks of loss, breakage, discoloration, inconvenience and straightjacketed designs inherent invprior art returnable pillar sets are-thereby avoided.

The carrying board attaches to and supports the completed tier cake, creating a finger space beneath the caketo promote ease of handling and lifting the completed cake and minimizing the risk of slipping and toppling during transportation and cutting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I FIG. I is an exploded perspective view of the basic components of a tier cake support assembly including the preferred embodiment of the cake carrier;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a completed assembly, showing the use of a plurality of pillars of two different lengths to vary cake configuration;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an assembled hexagonal pillar table;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an assembled square pillar table; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the lowermost portion of a support assembly wherein the space between layers has been eliminated by the use of shortened pillars.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the preferred form of this invention the cake carrier, shown generally at 11, comprises a rigid plate 12 with spacer means 13 thereon, said spacer means preferably comprising truncated pillars equally dimensioned in length to support the lace board 14 with a space 15 between the plate 12 and lace board 14 large enough for insertion of the fingers, as shown best in FIG. 2. The cake carrier is preferably equipped with a fastening means 16 for engaging lace board 14, thiis fastening means indicated at 17 as a plurality of vertical pointed elements secured to plate 12 and piercing lace board 14 and preferably also piercing cake circle 19 as shown at 18, above the carrier Ill.

The support structure of the tier cake, above'the carrier 1 1, comprises said lace board 14 which may consist essentially of a rigid planar element 20 generally made of corrugated paper with a strip of lace 21 peripherally attached thereto, usually by stitching 22, resting on the cake carrier 11. Resting on lace board 14 and affixed thereto by means of adhesive 23 is a rigid, planar element, also generally made of corrugated paper, conventionally called a cake circle 19', which directly supports both a lowermost cake layer 24 and a pillar table 25. Pillar table 25 is constructed of a rigid platfrom 26 with depending pillars 27 affixed to the undersurface of said platform by use of adhesive as indicated at 28, said pillars passing through to lowermost cake layer 24 and resting on the cake circle 19. The table 25 supports at least one combination of lace board, cake circle, and cake layer, that is, at least one tier, as indicated generally at 29 with any subsequent high tiers such as that indicated at 30 being similarly constructed and arranged.

The pillars may be cut to produce different sized interlayer spaces, as shown in FIG. 2, where pillars 33 have been shortened to produce an interlayer space 31 that is smaller than interlayer space 32. The exposed portions of the pillars in said interlayer spaces are decorated as desired as diagrammatically indicated by the double dashilines in FIG. 2. FIG. .5 shows an arrangement wherein pillars 34 have been cut to equal the depth of the lowermost cake 24 providing support for the top part of a double layer cake without a lace board between the parts of this double layer. One or more tiers similar to tiers 29 and 30 will ordinarily be superimposed thereon as indicated by the fragmentarily shown pillars 35 in FIG. 5.

The shape of the platform 26 can vary considerably as indicated by the generally hexagonal platform 36 in FIG. 3 and the generally square platform 37 in FIG. 4, it being noted that in all platforms the upper surface thereof is roughened or nodulated as indicated at 38 to lessen the tendency for the lace boards to slip on the platforms, and for positive retention the lace boards are glued to the platforms as indicated at 39.

Finally it is again stressed that all portions of the item claims herein are disposable so that the user need not preserve nor return the set. To this end the lace boards no carrier may be constructed primarily of corrugated paper, the platforms preferably of SWEDISH PRES- BOARD and the pillars of paper tubes, it being neces sary however, that these pillars shall be scissile, that is,

readily and cleanly cut with a sharp knife so that lengths of the truncated pillars l3, and 34, as well as the desired shortening of the pillars 33, may be easily achieved.

The pillars as originally supplied to the user may be of different lengths, enabling the user to vary the interspaces between cake tiers without cutting the pillars.

I claim:

1. A disposable pillar set, for tier cakes having several cake layers each on a cake circle, said set comprising:

spacer means is a plurality of truncated pillars secured to the upper surface of said plate.

3. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes pointed elements secured to the plate and piercing said lowermost lace board.

4. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes pointed elements secured to said plate and piercing both said lowermost lace board and said lowermost cake circle.

5. A pillar set according to claim 1 and including a set of truncated pillars shorter than said pillars for insertion through the lowermost cake layer to support a cake circle of a cake layer superimposed directly upon the lowermost cake layer.

6. A pillar set according to claim 5 wherein all the pillars are of scissile material so that all the pillars including said truncated pillars can be cut to any length dimension preferred by the user.

7. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said pillars are hollow to facilitate insertion into a cake layer. 

1. A disposable pillar set, for tier cakes having several cake layers each on a cake circle, said set comprising: a cake carrier including a substantially inflexible plate and having spacer means thereon; a lowermost lace board supported on said spacer means; means for fastening said lowermost lace board to said plate; a lowermost cake circle secured to lace board and capable of supporting the lowermost of said cake layers; and a plurality of pillar tables, each comprising a platform and a plurality of depending pillars dimensioned to extend above and down through a cake layer and to rest upon the cake circle of this last-mentioned cake layer whereby no cake layer supports the next higher cake layer, all of said components being disposable.
 2. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said spacer means is a plurality of truncated pillars secured to the upper surface of said plate.
 3. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes pointed elements secured to the plate and piercing said lowermost lace board.
 4. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes pointed elements secured to said plate and piercing both said lowermost lace board and said lowermost cake circle.
 5. A pillar set according to claim 1 and including a set of truncated pillars shorter than said pillars for insertion through the lowermost cake layer to support a cake circle of a cake layer superimposed directly upon the lowermost cake layer.
 6. A pillar set according to claim 5 wherein all the pillars are of scissile material so that all the pillars including said truncated pillars can be cut to any length dimension preferred by the user.
 7. A pillar set according to claim 1 wherein said pillars are hollow to facilitate insertion into a cake layer. 